Dispersal and fate of dredged materials disposed of in the Changjiang Estuary determined by use of an in situ rare earth element tracer

To investigate the dispersal pattern and the fate of dredged materials disposed at a pre-selected disposal site, a field tracer experiment was conducted in the North Passage of the Changjiang Estuary during the 2005 flood season. Three tons of dredged materials were mixed with 2.792 kg of sodium hexachloroiridate (IV) hexahydrate (SHH), which contained the rare earth element tracer iridum (Ir). Sampling was conducted at pre-selected sections of the estuary on the second, third and fourth day after the release of dredged materials. All samples were evaluated by use of neutron activation analysis. The majority of the dredged material was dispersed nearly parallel to the navigation channel and deposited between the channel and the south dike. Only a small quantity of dredged materials entered or crossed the navigation channel, and the back silting ratio in the navigation channel was about 5%. The dredged materials also dispersed southeasterly beyond two dike heads.